Many of us are striving to catalyze more of the Jesus movement. We want to see millions of churches planted and billions of people find their way back to God.

This is a noble endeavor and I’ve given my life to it.

But why don’t we see more of it – especially in the West? Why haven’t we seen an explosion of movements?

There are lots of answers I am sure.

But I am also begging to think it’s because we’re not ready?

God and God alone is responsible for movement. God will start his own movements through the power of the Holy Spirit. Outside of the Holy Spirit moving, we are foolish to believe we can generate movement.

So what exactly is the role of our networks, churches or church plants when it comes to movements?

I think it’s that we hoist the sails and wait.

It’s like the church is an old sailing ship. The sails are readied and the course planned. We’re just waiting for the wind to blow. (I’ve read my fair share of Patrick Obrien novels!)

When The Holy Spirit does come, we will be ready and start something beautiful.

Our job is to get the ship ready and prepared for the wind. And to do this we must cooperate and work together so that we can be ready. Because it takes a crew to raise the sails and prepare the ship for the wind.

But it seems we aren’t willing to hoist the sails together. It’s like we’re on the deck arguing about which sails to hoist and when to do or who does it best.

All the while, the wind is blowing and we’re missing it because our sails aren’t up.

Our job is to get the ship ready for movement. This means we ensure our churches are sending centers. We allocate time and energy to the mission. We train our best to go out and start new churches. We invest personally in the cause of church planting with our time, talent, and resource.s We release our best, send our best and cooperate as best we can.

Maybe then we will be able to catch some wind?

What are your thoughts? What are ways we can work together to catalyze movement?

It’s not that I am so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. – Albert Einstein

Nobody likes a quitter. So stop being one.

The first person to teach me that quitting wasn’t an option was my Dad.

I remember one time I was working on a science project. My father came home from work and stepped right into the argument I was having with my Mom about my science project. I was frustrated and threatened to quit. That’s when my Dad said, “nobody likes a quitter.”

Fast forward 15 years. I was in basic training in the Army. I called my Dad. When he asked how I was doing I threatened that I was thinking of quitting.

“Nobody like a quitter,” he told me.

This has come full circle.

My 12-year-old son is now a wrestler. He’s learning the sport. He’s got a long way to go and he’s already lost several key matches. The other day I arrived home from traveling and asked about his day. He told me he’d been asked to wrestle a kid that already has five years of experience. When I asked him who won he told me ‘the other kid’ of course.

We had a 20-minute conversation in which he tried to persuade me that I should let him quit wrestling. I held firm and eventually brought out the hammer. “You can’t quit – because nobody likes a quitter.”

It’s almost like my Dad turned quitter into a dirty word. And now I’ve done the same with my son.

I know this might come across as harsh (or obvious). But it’s an important lesson.

We need to learn that in some things, quitting is NOT an option. My son needs to learn this. You and I need to learn this. In some areas of our lives, we’ve simply got to put our heads down and get it done.

You’ve got important and possibly world-changing challenges in front of you. You want to quit.

What you need to realize is that quitting isn’t an option.

Because nobody likes a quitter.

What about you? What lessons have you learned about quitting? In what ways are you overcoming your penchant for quitting.

Gurus are wise people who derive their wisdom from experience. They’ve been around and have experienced different things. They’re someone in the next season or several seasons ahead of you.

A guru can help you navigate the challenges of your new endeavor. A guru can help you identify the weaknesses and flaws in your strategy. They can help you navigate the opportunities before you that might help you optimize your project.

We all need gurus. Even church planters.

For church planters gurus might be…

a local church planter.

a church planter in your network.

a pastor of a sending church or multi-site church.

a professor of a local college.

a retired missionary or pastor.

We can learn lots from people. So your guru needn’t be a former church planter. But he or she ought to have reproduced something in the Kingdom.

Blogs and social media make it easy to identify gurus and connect with them. You might send them an email. You might connect with them at a conference. However you do it, find your gurus.

And if you’re planting a church or planted a church, may I encourage you to become a guru to others.

If you’ve planted a church then you’re learning stuff and gaining insight and knowledge. You need to share it with us. My challenge to you is to become a guru. You needn’t advertise yourself as such. Rather, be available to teach others.